San Diego Whale Watching

Information for San Diego Residents and Visitors

Whale watching is a popular San Diego area activity. Newport Landing Whale Watching has provided San Diego residents and visitors a year round whale watching cruise option from Newport Beach just a short drive north of San Diego. Newport Landing Whale Watching offers multiple cruises daily and is located on one of the largest marine protected areas in Southern California. The reserves were put in place recognizing the richness of the ecosystems along the Newport Beach and Laguna Beach coastlines and to ensure that generations to come would be able to enjoy this amazing marine ecosystem. Whales and dolphin flourish in these same waters and Newport Beach is recognized as a world renowned whale watching destination. For San Diego whale watchers traveling north to this rich marine habitat is well worth the drive. The success rate for viewing whales is so high that rarely do whale watching cruises do not view these mammals. For many San Diego guests, Newport Beach is also the perfect stop over while visiting Los Angeles or other areas of Southern California.

Whale watching is year round with the summer and fall months viewing the giant blue and finback whales. These giants can grow to 90 feet or more and reach incredible weights. Often these whales will not only be viewed cruising, but also lunge feeding on huge quantities of krill. Seeing these giants with mouths scooping up huge quantities of ocean and krill is an unforgettable sight. The winter and spring months celebrates the gray whale migration with thousands of gray whales traveling by Newport Bay along the coastline. Multiple gray whale sightings per each whale watching cruise is common during this migration. Humpback whales, finback whales, and even orcas can be viewed year round. Mega pods of common and bottlenose dolphin numbering in the hundreds to a thousand or more can be seen year round also along with the giant Risso’s dolphin.